Raju wants alumni, joint collaborations to fund universities

New Delhi: With the cut down of funds to universities due to slowdown of the economy, Human Resource Development Minister MM Pallam Raju today said innovative ways should be devised to raise funds."During the 11th Five Year Plan we did spend on all our Central universities. The economy of the country was riding high then. However, as we are all aware of current realities. The slowdown of the economy has certainly had an impact over the resources," he said.[caption id="attachment_1088159" align="alignleft" width="380"] Human Resource Development Minister MM Pallam Raju. Image courtesy PIB[/caption]"So we need to optimise our resources and look at innovative ways of raising funds. We should look for contributions from prominent alumni and probably some research collaborations to raise funds," he said at the inaugural function at the Jamia Milia University.Responding to a question on low ranking of Indian universities globally, the minister said, "The way these rankings take place are on the norms that are not necessarily applicable to us."Raju, however added, "This does not mean that we should not strive for excellent faculty. The linkage with industries is important. There is no excuse of not coming up publications of international standards, which is a requirement if a university has to be recognised." PTI